KUALA LUMPUR: South Korea's Jimin Kang claimed a thrilling one-stroke victory in the inaugural Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia after three birdies in the last four holes on Sunday.
A big crowd at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club witnessed Kang calmly roll in a 12-foot downhill putt on the final hole to shoot a six-under-par 65 to finish a stroke ahead of LPGA Hall of Famer Juli Inkster.
Kang's blistering final round left her with a nine-under-par 204 total and her second LPGA victory, following her win at the 2005 LPGA Corning Classic.
"Speechless," said Kang afterwards. "And that's not that easy to do for me.
"I played solid. I hit a lot of putts. As you guys can tell, my score was good enough to win a tournament, and you know, it's been a while. So I'm trying to soak this in. I can't believe I won."
Inkster's second-place was her best of the season thanks to her own brilliant stretch of birdies at 13, 15, 16 and 17, the last of which put her into the outright lead.
However, she pushed her second shot into the right greenside bunker at the 18th, nearly holing out from the sand before having to settle for a two-putt bogey.
Combined with an 18th hole birdie from Kang, playing a group behind Inkster, it was enough for victory, or at least a shot at a play-off, to slip away.
"When I miss it, I miss it right," Inkster said of her final approach. "It was a three-quarter shot and I left it out there. I played well all day."
First-round leader Mike Miyazato of Japan and Maria Hjorth of Sweden shared third at six-under 207, with Korea's Meena Lee alone in fifth another shot back.
Meanwhile, American Cristie Kerr could take over the top position in the Rolex Rankings as a result of her superb final round.
The current world number two began the final round tied for 29th and, teeing off on the 10th hole, registered four birdies in her first six holes of the day.
Although she added a bogey at 18 (her ninth hole) birdies at three and five saw her finish at five-under-par 66 and in eighth position.
"It would feel great to take over number one this week," said Kerr.
"It's been so close the last four tournaments. It came down to one putt in Alabama and last week I had a great finish, but just wasn't close enough.
"I've been thinking about this race all year. It's coming down to a putt here or there and it cannot get any closer."
Korea's Shin Jiyai, who finished tied for sixth with Christina Kim, is projected to take the number two spot in the rankings, while Ai Miyazato, who could only finish tied for 28th, could fall to number three.
(source:indiatimes.com)
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